Pakistan protests turn deadly
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani protesters
flooded onto Constitution Avenue in Islamabad for another day of
demonstrations Sunday, demanding a solution to the growing political
crisis wracking the country.
(CNN) -- Israel has shot down an unmanned aerial
vehicle that entered Israeli airspace near the Syrian border on Sunday,
the Israel Defense Forces confirmed.
Pakistani protests turn deadly as prime minister refuses to resign
August 31, 2014 -- Updated 1524 GMT (2324 HKT)
Pakistan protests turn violent
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Three people have died in the violent unrest since Saturday
- NEW: News crews from several lslamabad stations have been attacked by police
- About 450 people were injured in clashes, health officials say
- Protesters have taken to the streets in Islamabad for two weeks
At least three people have died
in the fighting so far, according to Dr. Ayesha Isani, the spokeswoman
for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad.
Local news crews,
including cameramen from three different channels, were attacked by
police trying to disperse protesters Sunday.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is vowing to remain on the job, despite the violent demonstrations against his government.
Security is tight on
Constitution Avenue, Pakistan's main political artery, where the
nation's major state institutions, including Parliament and the Supreme
Court, are located.
Protesters again threatened to march on the prime minister's house in Islamabad, as they did Saturday.
Sharif has failed to
negotiate a solution with the protesters and last week asked the
military for help brokering an end to the crisis.
About 450 people have been injured in clashes, according to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and Polytechnic Hospital.
Pakistan's defense minister defended the use of tear gas.
"Tear gas is a normal
practice undertaken all over the world to disperse a crowd. It is
something that is an alternative to using force," Minister Khawaja Asif
said. "The situation had precipitated to a point that if action had not
been taken then it would have been a free fall for the government."
At least 8,000 people
have rallied in the city's center after allegations of vote-rigging
during last year's election. Negotiations between Sharif's government
and his opponents, some of whom are calling for his resignation, have
reached an impasse.
Sharif has said he will not resign -- a demand he has called "unconstitutional."
Imran Khan -- an
enigmatic former cricket star who leads one of Pakistan's largest
political parties -- has led the two-week protests.
Khan is demanding new
elections, while outspoken cleric Tahir ul-Qadri -- who wants to
overhaul the country's political system -- is demanding much more
sweeping reforms.
"The leaders of this country should forget that we will ever back down," Qadri told the media Sunday.
As the protests have
grown in size and scope, the army has stationed personnel at government
buildings in case protesters try to occupy them.
In Karachi, the scene
was stable but tense Sunday as the Muttahida Quami Movement party called
for a day of mourning. Shops were closed, and there was little activity
on the streets of Pakistan's largest city.
Sophia Saifi reported from Islamabad and
Holly Yan wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Joshua Berlinger and journalist
Adeel Raja contributed to this report.
Israel shoots down drone near Syrian border
August 31, 2014 -- Updated 1412 GMT (2212 HKT)
An
Israeli soldier walks near a border crossing Sunday in Quneitra. Israel
shot down a drone over the area with a Patriot missile.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Israel uses a Patriot missile to take down a drone from Syria in the Golan Heights
- It is the first time Israel has shot down a UAV from Syria
- It's unclear which group was operating the drone and why
- At least 44 United Nations peacekeepers were detained by militants in the Golan Heights
The drone was destroyed
by a Patriot surface-to-air missile over Quneitra in the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner
said.
"In spite of the IDF's
sensitivity to recent occurrences in the proximity of the border, we
have repeatedly stated that we will respond to any breach of Israel's
sovereignty and will continue to act to maintain safety and security to
the civilians of the State of Israel," Lerner added.
This is the first drone
from Syria that Israel has shot down, although the IDF has shot down
UAVs from Hamas and Hezbollah before.
It's unclear which group
in war-torn Syria was operating the UAV and why. It could have been the
embattled government of President Bashar al-Assad or any of a number of
rebel fighting groups or militant organizations.
The downing of the drone
is the latest development in the Golan Heights on the Israeli-Syrian
border, where United Nations peacekeepers were attacked on Saturday.
U.N. officials said they were working to gain the release of dozens of
peacekeepers detained by Islamist fighters when the attack occurred.
The U.N. has not
identified the group responsible for detaining at least 44 peacekeepers,
but an Israeli military official told CNN Syrian militants are behind
the incident .
Al-Nusra Front fighters
and other Syrian rebels seized control of the Syrian side of the
Quneitra crossing last week -- a capture that represents a new dynamic
in a war long feared not only for its deadly effects inside Syria but
for threatening to widen into a destabilizing regional conflict.
Syria is in turmoil as a bloody yearslong civil war rages on.
The United Nations
Disengagement Observer Force has been in place in the Golan Heights
since 1974 to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Syria.
Israel seized control of
the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War and fought off an attempt
by Syria in 1973 to retake the rocky plateau.
In 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights. It is considered by the international community to be occupied territory.
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